Caraccioli Sparkling Brut 2008

Caraccioli Sparkling Brut 2008

I have to admit, I didn’t drink a lot of sparkling wine before a few months ago, but necessity intervened.  To start, we’re expanding our gift basket offerings, including a breakfast styled gift basket, so I need a sparkling wine to carry and include in that basket.

Secondly, my wife does love her Champagne.  If you aren’t familiar, California technically cannot produce Champagne since that’s a region in France and while a few brands don’t bother following what is actually law, all sparkling wine, even when made from Chardonnay, should be labeled as sparkling wine….not Champagne.  I’m suspicious of those not following the rules there, since it seems like an easy marketing mechanism to steal some extra on premise sales and I hate those wines that are brand driven, instead of being quality driven.

Ok so more important, Caraccioli.  There aren’t many small production sparkling wine houses in California-in fact other than J Vineyards and Korbel, even Sonoma and Napa offer a select few choices, none of which I both liked enough to ship while being small enough production to warrant my attention. Caracciloi is a project from Gary Caraccioli who leads what is a 4th generation of farmers, making wine for the first time starting in 2006.  Early returns on the sparkling side have been solid, or above and as we move into later vintages, there’s the opportunity for much, much more.  These grapes come exclusively from the famed Santa Lucia Highlands, known world wide for both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The Brut Cuvee in your glass is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, made in a traditional fashion.  I had originally run into Caraccioli a couple of years back, but this is our first large scale release of their wine to our wine club customers, in large part because production is incredibly small. Also, I ran into a pretty famous critic, who used to write for Wine Advocate, who asked his name not be used here….we chatted about the death of sparkling wine startups in California, only to have him mention Caraccioli and that the scores are sitting in the low 90’s now, but they’re figuring out the winemaking side of things and their fruit is among the best in the Santa Lucia Highlands.

That was enough for me and this could easily be our house sparkler, if we could pay about $50 for the privilege.  When compared to some of the larger labels out there, you’ll find a sense of depth and nuance here that belies the youth of the winery, but shows what might truly be possible when it comes to sparkling wine production in California’s colder climates. We hope that our wine of the month club members enjoy the first sparkling wine we've found sufficient in quality to ship in the past two years.